


The Labors of Lando

by WaitingtoBloom



Series: Disney Fairies Formula 1 [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alexander Albon is a Sweetheart, Background Relationships, Charles Leclerc is a Drama Queen, Clumsy Lando Norris, Dirty Jokes, Disney Fairies - Freeform, Fairy Lando Norris, Fluff and Humor, Friends as Family, Friendship, Gen, George Russell has a dirty mind, M/M, No the answer is no, Sebastian Vettel is a smartass and we love him for it, The power of friendship, Wingman Lando Norris, is it appropriate to use chipmunks as a torture device?, slipped a nutella reference in there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28859994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaitingtoBloom/pseuds/WaitingtoBloom
Summary: Lando the tinker fairy has a bad habit of getting himself in the weirdest situations, now he's basically been sentenced to community service as payback for his clumsiness.
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel
Series: Disney Fairies Formula 1 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2210532
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	1. An Audience with the King - aka Lando done goofed

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first multi-chaptered fic in the F1 world, well kinda in that world haha. This is based on Disney Fairies* which I do not own or profit from. It's basically Lando + friends the series. I have the fic halfway written already so hopefully there will be consistent updates. I basically just heard the words Sir Lewis Hamilton and had to write this. I hope you enjoy :)

Lando knew he had a lot of quirks that people sometimes perceived as faults, and for the most part he disagreed with those people. Playing the newest Enchant3 song on blast in the rose garden wasn’t annoying, it was necessary for them to grow big and beautiful. At least that’s what he assumed, he wasn’t a garden talent so his theories should probably be taken with a grain of salt. And speaking of salt! It wasn’t his fault that he replaced Romain’s sugar with salt when he accidentally knocked over the jar on a sneak visit to the kitchen. They look exactly the same! And personally he thought the chocolate blueberry muffins tasted better with the salty aftertaste. Although he was apparently alone in that regard. 

The point is, he knew he could do silly or even stupid things at times and that’s okay, it’s just a part of who he is. But sprinkling some of his excess fairy dust on a couple of wily chipmunks in the Woodlands in an attempt to help Alex speed up his daily duty of getting the little buggers up their trees and asleep might have been the stupidest. 

Even though he and Alex desperately grabbed hold of the chipmunks before they could float too far, eventually Sergio, Head Keeper of the Dust, needed to be called in to help sort out the situation. Not only had the whole affair been awkward, it was also enough to get him an official summons to the King for his behavior. 

Now that he was being escorted down a hallway in the royal palace he was starting to feel like maybe just maybe, he fucked up. 

Three loud knocks jolted him out of his consciousness. 

“Lando the Tinker fairy has arrived your highness,” yelled the guard to his left through the closed doors before them. 

“Please bring him in Nico,” came the answering voice from inside. 

The guards swung the doors open to reveal King Lewis’ throne room. 

Delicate turquoise pillars climbed to the pale yellow ceiling. Images from all around the kingdom were circling through the air, each one momentarily pausing before the empty throne before moving again. 

_“So that’s how he knows everything going on,”_ Lando thought. Must be nice to be all-powerful. 

In fact he was so distracted by the grandeur of the room that he hadn’t noticed that the king wasn’t actually present. Instead the man standing in the room was the king’s advisor and the royal historian Sebastian Vettel. 

“Boom!” The large doors he had entered through closed behind him, and he guessed the guards had left the way they came because now he was alone in the room with Sebastian. 

He hurriedly ducked into a sort of bow, not sure what the actual protocol was when meeting the king’s right-hand man. 

“Um, hello Sir Sebastian,” he squeaked out. Surely that was a safe greeting. 

He heard melodic chuckling from above him, and when he pulled his eyes from the floor he noticed that Sebastian was a lot closer to him now. 

“You don’t have to bow Lando, and you certainly do not need to address me as sir,” he said as Lando rose from his bent position. “Although,” he said, smile growing wider, “you should definitely call Lewis that when he arrives.” He punctuated the statement with a wink so Lando wasn’t sure if that meant he should or shouldn’t call the king that. Why did things have to be so confusing? 

“Um Sebastian,” Lando ventured, when Sebastian nodded at him he figured it was okay to continue. “I’m here because King Lewis asked for an audience with me.” 

“Yes I’m aware.” 

“Right, so um where is he?” Lando asked. His wings were starting to flutter behind him as his nerves grew. 

Sebastian merely rested a hand on his shoulder, lowering him back to the floor, huh when had he started flying. 

“The king will be here soon, he likes to be fashionably late, he’s dramatic like that.” 

“Oh I didn’t know that meeting with the art talents about a gift for the winter kingdom was considered dramatic nowadays,” came a voice from the back of the room. 

King Lewis fluttered onto his throne after seemingly having materialized out of nowhere. He wasn’t wearing any specific royal regalia, but even in just a patterned tunic and leggings he managed to look regal. 

Sebastian rolled his eyes in front of him before turning to face the king. 

“Well seeing as you’re not wearing the same thing you were when you left for said meeting, I’d say my statement was still accurate my liege,” he said making an over-exaggerated bow. 

King Lewis just smiled at Sebastian, “Different situations require different outfits Seb, not that you would know that,” he said gesturing to the advisor. 

“I think my cargo shorts are perfect for every occasion thank you very much, they’re both useful and comfortable.” 

“We’ll have to agree to disagree then,” said King Lewis. 

Lando wondered if this was an argument the two had often, because neither of them seemed like they were putting any actual effort into proving their point, just bantering back and forth. 

“Besides,” the king continued, “I don’t think we’re here to talk about my fashion sense.” The king turned his gaze to Lando for the first time since he had entered the throne room. 

Lando couldn’t help but wince, he had forgotten why he was here while listening to the two friends argue. 

“Correct King Lewis, this is Lando the tinker fairy.” 

A silence fell over the throne room. Lando glanced around and quickly fell into a deep bow when he realized that both men were looking at him. 

“Hello Sir Lewis it’s an honor to officially meet you sir,” he said while staring at the shiny silver tile beneath his feet. 

He heard a combination of spluttering and snickering fill the room. 

“Please stand up Lando, and there’s definitely no need for the sir,” the king frantically got out, flapping his hands in Lando’s direction. 

“And you,” he said, turning to Sebastian, “I’ll talk with you later troublemaker.” 

Sebastian merely smirked and waved his hand in Lando’s general direction as if telling the king to get back to the topic at hand. 

Oh right the topic at hand was him, and the punishment he was about to get. 

“So it seems like you used pixie dust on some chipmunks resulting in them subsequently flying away until Checo could come sort out the situation, is that correct?” The King punctuated his sentence with the raise of his eyebrows. 

Lando wrung his hands anxiously, not wanting to achieve lift off again. 

“Well yes, but I swear it was an accident King Lewis.” 

The king’s eyebrows returned to their place higher up his forehead. 

“You accidentally sprinkled fairy dust on two chipmunks.” 

“Well no, that part was on purpose, but I swear I didn’t mean to make them fly,” Lando tried to explain, “I just wanted to make them like float a little bit you know…” he trailed off. 

“And why did you think that the chipmunks needed to float a little bit?” The king who was seemingly amused by Lando’s plight said. 

“I just wanted to help Alex put the chipmunks to bed. They never want to climb up the tree and go to sleep when they’re told, so I thought if they could just float a little bit it would make his job easier.” 

Suddenly, Sebastian surprised him by speaking up from his left. Lando had forgotten he was even in the room. 

“The Alex he’s referencing is Alexander Albon the animal talent, King Lewis.” 

“I see,” the king said humming softly, before turning his attention back to Lando. 

“So you wanted to help your friend with his animal raising duties, which resulted in the chaos that you are here for now.” 

“Yeah... basically,” Lando said, focusing on the many woven bracelets the king was wearing to distract him from the admonishment he would surely find if he looked the king in the eye.

The king clapped his hands together. “Well I think your punishment is fairly obvious then.” 

He knew it, the king was going to let the chipmunks gnaw his arms off. Fuck. How was he going to tinker without arms? Actually, that might be okay. He could ask Robert to help him design some new arms. It would be time consuming though. What was he going to do in the meantime? Maybe his friends would take pity on him and help him with basic stuff like eating. Oh my god he would need someone to help him shower too. Who would do that for him? He couldn’t let Charles see him naked. Wait, he’s getting ahead of himself. What about the actual gnawing. That’s going to hurt like a lot. Do chipmunks have sharp teeth? He hopes not. No wait isn’t it better if they have sharp teeth? Then it won’t take as long. Maybe they’ll knock him o… 

“Lando, Lando, Lando!” The king yelled to get his attention. “Are you okay kid, you look a little pale.” 

“Huh,” Lando said, snapping out of his trance. 

“Are you okay,” Sebastian said this time, resting his hand on Lando’s shoulder. 

“Yeah I’m fine,” Lando said, “I’m sorry for getting distracted.” 

“It’s okay,” the king smiled, “I was just explaining your punishment.” 

_Fuck,_ he didn’t hear if chipmunks had sharp teeth or not. 

“I’m sure your friends will be happy to have the help,” the king continued. 

“Wait what,” Lando said, “help with what.” 

“Did you not hear me?” King Lewis looked confused. 

“Um I guess not, I’m sorry about that your highness.” 

King Lewis just waved him off. “I was just saying that since the incident occured because you wanted to help your friend so badly, your punishment will be helping your friends with their daily duties.” 

Lando stood gaping. 

“That’s it!” Lando burst out. 

The king looked surprised by his outburst. “I mean if you would like me to assign a different punishm…” 

“No! That’s okay! I thought you were going to mutilate me! This is much better.” 

The king’s face broke into a smile. “I mean if you really want I could call in the guards and…” 

“Nope,” Lando said, “thank you for your mercy King Lewis.” He quickly fell into a bow and shot back up again. 

The king merely laughed at him. “I wish I was always thanked for handing out punishments.”

“Trust me, I’m very grateful sir, I mean King Lewis.” 

Lando glanced behind himself at the doors. 

“Um…”

“Yes, you may leave now Lando. Sebastian will have a list of the people you are expected to help starting tomorrow, delivered to your house.” 

“Of course thank you king,” he started backing away, “thank you Sebastian.” 

“Have a blessed day Lando.” 

“I’m hashtag blessed,” Lando called back as he opened the throne room doors to escape down the hallway. 

_Why was he such an idiot?_


	2. Labor #1: Trial by Chipmunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lando kicks off his punishment with a visit to the Autumn Forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is here! I hope you enjoy :)

Lando woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, but he guessed avoiding death by chipmunk would do that for your psyche. He shuffled across the wooden floor into his kitchenette to put the kettle on. He was clearing away the sketches spread across the kitchen table to make room for his cuppa when a scroll with a cyan seal caught his eye. The two crossed arrows adorning the wax brought back memories from yesterday's trip to the palace. That’s right, just because he had escaped the king’s wrath, that didn’t mean he had avoided a punishment all together. He held his breath as he unraveled the scroll. 

Lando the tinker fairy, 

Since you were so eager to help your friends before, the king has decided that an appropriate punishment for your recklessness will be learning your friend’s crafts. You will spend the next few days assisting them with their daily duties. Innovation is an important skill for tinkerers, but shortcuts are not valued everywhere. Perhaps you will learn what skills are important to your friends. Attached you will find a list of the areas you need to visit in the kingdom.

Sebastian Vettel ~ Royal Historian 

Lando groaned. Some of his friends were definitely going to abuse their power and use him as a personal servant. But still, he smiled, he had been kind of busy lately so hanging out with his friends, even at work, would be fun. 

Lando looked at the attached page of papyrus. It seemed like he would be visiting the Autumn Forest first. Which probably made sense, he did still owe Alex a proper apology after all. 

“Fwweeeeek,” Lando startled at a sharp whistling, before hastily grabbing his kettle. 

Well he might as well have his tea before flying out to the woods. It was going to be a long day.

\------------------------- 

The rich reds and deep browns of the Autumn Woods were always beautiful to Lando. He winced, right it was only yesterday that he had turned these calm woods into a disaster zone. 

Still, a bright smile caught his eye as he descended through the trees. It looked like Alex wasn’t holding any grudges. 

Two gangly arms pulled him into an embrace, which quickly morphed into a playful choke hold. 

“There’s my favorite mischief maker,” Alex said ruffling his curls. 

“Hey!” It took him time to arrange his curls this morning, well not really, but still Alex shouldn’t be messing them up. 

Alex just laughed at him. “I think I’m allowed some hair ruffling after the headache you caused yesterday.” 

Oh yeah, that apology. 

“Alex, I’m really sorry about yesterday I swear I didn’t mean to get you in trouble or hurt any animals or…” 

“Woah chill Lando, I know you didn’t mean to do anything bad, and you really didn’t. The ‘munks were a bit startled, but they calmed down right after. And other than a really awkward conversation between Esteban and Checo there were no problems on the human end either.” He smiled before continuing. “You’re okay though right, the punishment wasn’t that bad.” 

“Awww you’re such a sweetheart Al,” he said punching his arm, “but yeah I’m fine.” 

He brought his hand to his temple in a salute. 

“Lando Norris at your service for the day sir.”

“Yeah I heard you were going to help us out today,” he said giving Lando a fist bump. “I’m not sure I’d even call that a punishment though, how’d you get off so lightly.” He quirked an eyebrow, “did you suck off..” 

“Mate! Ew no. I’m pretty sure even saying that is considered like treason or something.” 

Alex merely put his hands in the air in his defense. “Hey, I’m just asking the questions that need to be asked. Besides I’m pretty sure that’s like the opposite of treason, it would be like serving your kingdom.” 

“I’m telling George that you’re a freak you know.” 

“Ha!” Alex scoffed at him. “Trust me if anyone’s the freak here it’s George, blessed be the king and all that.” 

“Okay okay I get it,” Lando said covering his ears, “please just make me shovel rabbit poop or something, anything but listening to your freaky fantasies.” 

“You started it mate,” Alex said clapping his shoulder, “but you’re right it’s time to get to work.” 

Lando had never been happier to hear that sentence. 

“So what am I going to be helping you with.”

“Well I figured that since you’re supposed to be making up for your mistakes, how about helping me with the chipmunks,” Alex paused, “properly this time.” 

Lando groaned, “Can’t I do something else please Alex, I think I’ve traumatized the chipmunks enough.” 

“The chipmunks are not traumatized you drama queen, and besides animals are far more forgiving than you think. And I think,” he said ignoring Lando’s puppy dog eyes, “that they would be really happy if you helped brush their coats as an apology.” 

“ _Darn it_ ,” Lando thought. Alex was hitting him with his stern disapproving dad face. He wasn’t going to be able to pout his way out of this. He sighed. 

“Fine. I’ll help you brush the chipmunks, I’ll be the best damn brusher you’ve ever seen. Happy.” 

“Extremely,” Alex smiled, _the smarmy fucking prick,_ “now chop chop let’s go we have work to do.” 

And with that Alex started flying deeper into the woods leaving Lando to hastily follow after him. 

The ordered chaos that existed among the animal talents was always fascinating to Lando. Things were pretty crazy when it came to tinkering too, but he also worked alone a lot of the time. The animal talents however were constantly cuddling or corralling various woodland creatures, all while helping each other out when needed. 

Below him he could see three fairies doing their best to coax a baby bunny out of its warren to join the rest of its fluffle, yet across the way Esteban was practically being overrun as he tried to hand feed a group of squirrels. 

“Hey Este!” Alex called out, “Do you need any help?” 

The fairy looked up at Alex and waved him off. He turned his head in Lando’s direction and brought two fingers to his eyes and pointed them back at Lando. 

“Awghk,” Lando squawked and turned to Alex. “Did you see that? He’s going to kill me!” 

Alex just laughed at him. “Trust me Esteban is not going to kill you, he’s just very protective over his squirrels.” He turned back to look at him. “Also like I said, he’s probably still not over the whole Checo thing either. It’s fine though, you probably did them a favor.” 

Lando looked at Alex questionly, “I’m not sure he sees it that way.” 

“You’re probably not wrong,” Alex said with a giggle, “Come on we’re here.” 

The two made their descent through the branches, and landed by the same oak tree that Lando had visited yesterday. Two chipmunks were already scuttling around the base of the tree while a fellow animal talent watched over them. 

“They’re all yours Alex,” they said, gesturing to what Lando could only assume were the grooming tools before walking away. 

“Thanks,” he said, clapping the fairy on the back before turning to Lando. 

“So, are you ready to style some chipmunks,” Alex said with a mischievous look in his eye. 

\------------------------- 

To put it lightly, grooming the chipmunks was not going great. 

Well Alex had no problems using his Snow White super powers to make his chipmunk calm down and sit still for grooming. Lando however, did not have any such powers or luck. His chipmunk Basil was far more interested in playing tug of war with the brush, and Lando was not winning. 

“Alex! A little help over here,” Lando said as Basil once again wrenched the brush from his hands. 

Alex looked over from where he was gently working a spur out of the tail of his chipmunk Farley. 

“Basil darling I know he’s fun to play with but you need to get groomed now, don’t you want to play after he’s made your coat all nice and shiny.” 

Basil dropped the brush and looked at Alex steadily. 

“Basil,” Alex warned, “I promise you can play after, but only if you listen to Lando.” 

The chipmunk hesitated before dropping down and rolling so Lando could finally reach her back with the brush. 

“How do you do that,” he said as he started to softly brush through the matted fur. 

“It’s not that hard, they’re just overgrown babies,” Alex said as Farley gently whacked him with his tail, “all it takes is some patience.” 

“Patience huh.” 

The rest of the grooming continued on a quieter note, with the two of them only paying attention to their respective chipmunks and throwing the occasional comment in. 

When Alex deemed the chipmunk’s coats acceptably detangled he fed each of them a sunflower seed. 

“All right you two the torture is over you can go play now.” The chipmunks looked at each other and then at Alex again. “I promise you’re all done, go play, I’ll see you in a little bit.” With that they ran off into the grass where Lando presumed other animal talents were waiting. 

“You’re really good at this you know,” Lando said as he started to put the grooming materials back in their kit. 

“I should hope so,” Alex scoffed. 

“No I’m serious,” he said, “I guess I never appreciated it before but you’ve always been a really good listener, and it shows when you work with them.” 

Alex paused in his movements before looking up at Lando with a cheeky grin. “Are you getting soft on me?” 

“Whatever! I shouldn’t have said anything you prick.” 

Alex wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “I’m just messing with you, thanks for saying that. It wasn’t always easy, working with them I mean, like yeah we can talk to animals and understand them but that doesn’t mean things get done y’know.” Lando nodded and Alex continued. 

“I guess it just took some time before I learned that talking wasn’t enough, you have to listen to each other, and do what makes the most sense for both of you.” 

“Like compromising.” 

“Exactly like compromising,” he said, pushing Lando forward a little. 

“I think your lesson is done mate. Consider yourself freed of your animal rearing duties.” 

“Seriously,” Lando said, “just like that.” 

“Just like that,” Alex said snapping his fingers, “I think you figured out what it really means to be an animal talent. 

“Um having patience and making compromises,” Lando muttered. 

“Bang on. Your inventions are great for making the technical part of our job easier, like if you could make me a brush for thicker fur wink wink nudge nudge, but when it comes to dealing with people, or in this case animals, it’s best not to take shortcuts.” 

“Right,” Lando said, feeling properly chastised. 

As if he could pick up on his slightly soured mood, and he probably could freaking animal talent, Alex spoke up again. 

“You know Basil asked when she would get to play with you again.” 

“Really,” he said, and he couldn’t keep the notes of suspicion out of his voice. 

“I’m serious,” Alex said. “Even though you technically weren’t supposed to be playing, she had a good time.” 

“I thought I was messing up,” Lando said to the floor. 

“Mate, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Animals don’t judge people the same way that humans do. As long as you’re being genuine they tend to appreciate the effort.” 

“Well tell her I said thanks I guess.” 

“I will,” Alex said, “but feel free to come back anytime and tell her yourself.” 

“Come back,” Lando said, surprise written all over his face. 

“Why not man, it was nice working with a friend for once, and if not it’s no big deal I know you’re busy too.” 

“No that would be really cool,” Lando burst out, “I’d love to come back, maybe when I can give you that brush you talked about.” 

“It’s a deal then,” Alex said bumping his fist. “I’ll see you this weekend for game night yeah, have fun with the rest of your punishment.” 

“Ugh don’t remind me,” Lando said, giving Alex a quick hug before starting to fly away. 

“See you soon, thanks for everything!” He yelled over his shoulder. 

Honestly, if the rest of his punishments were like this then they might not be so bad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Fun fact: I pushed myself to write this fic solely because I could not stop thinking about the cute way Esteban Ocon pronounces squirrel. If you've never seen it do yourself a favor and look it up!


	3. Labor #2: Fields of Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the second part of his punishment Lando goes to help his garden-talent friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for waiting this took a bit longer than I originally planned, but we move.

Lando cursed his own naivety. All his punishments will go great he thought, helping Alex with the chipmunks had gone so well, surely the next tasks will be easy. He was an idiot. An idiot who was now laying flat on his face, inhaling a pile of dirt, listening to Charles laughing uproariously behind him. 

“The roots Lando, I told you that you need to look out for the roots,” he said through wheezing breaths. 

He definitely had not told him to watch out for the roots, and the way he was now doubled over didn’t do much to absolve him in Lando’s eyes. 

Getting up he tried to wipe as much dirt off his face as possible, but judging by the tears still threatening to spill onto Charles’ face he clearly wasn’t very successful. 

“Watch the roots my ass, you could have stopped me you know,” he spit at Charles. 

“Well that would not have been as fun _mon pétit_ ,” Charles said as he helped shake the remaining dirt from Lando’s curls. “This way you learned a valuable lesson _non_?” 

“ _Non_.” 

“Charles be nice to Lando,” Pierre said, fluttering over from the zinnia he had been tending to, “not everyone is as used to the gardens as you.” 

“Yes I’m well aware of that _calamar_ but Lando is the one who said his punishment would not be complete until he learned a lesson, so I was just trying to help move things along.” 

Pierre arched an eyebrow at his fellow garden-talent. 

“And what lesson did you just teach him?” 

“To pay attention to where he’s walking of course,” Charles said, patting the large root that Lando had tripped over. 

He glared at the offensive protuberance, “It’s not that kind of lesson Charles.” 

“Then what kind of lesson is it Lando?” Charles said, mocking his tone. 

This day was going nowhere fast. 

“I don’t know, it’s not a specific kind of lesson, I just have to help you with chores so I can learn what’s important to garden fairies.” 

“Oh well that’s easy then isn’t then Lando,” Pierre said with his signature smirk growing, “garden fairies love gardening.” 

He hated his friends. 

And he said that over his shoulder as he started to walk away from the francophone hyenas. 

Fuck it all. The king was just going to have to accept that this was too far, even for a punishment. He’d take his chances with the chipmunks. Actually the chipmunks liked him now, maybe the squirrels. Yeah Esteban would probably let the squirrels rip his ears off, he’d probably revel in it actually. That way he appeases the king and he doesn’t have to listen to Charles making fun of him anymore. A win win situation. 

He was halted by two arms wrapping around his shoulders. 

“Noooo Lando I’m sorry please don’t leave, it’s just too easy to make fun of you. I promise Pierre and I will make you the best junior garden fairy around, and you will learn your important lesson.” 

“And you promise not to make fun of me anymore,” he said, pulling Charles’ arms from his shoulders. 

“Welllll.” 

Lando glared at him. 

Charles flashed him a devilish smile in return. “I promise not to make fun of you outside of our normal friendly banter. Deal.” 

“Deal.” 

“Great,” Pierre said, “now that the two of you are done being...yourselves, we can actually get to work.” 

Charles was about to protest but a look from Pierre silenced him. 

“Let’s go slowpokes the vegetables won’t pick themselves.” 

“Vegetables?” Lando said but Pierre had already moved ahead. 

“ _Oui_ vegetables,” Charles replied, “Pierre prefers to tend to the food than the flowers.” 

“Really?” 

“Mhmm, he simply does not have the eye for beauty that I ha…” 

“Ouch!” Charles said as the wicker basket Pierre had just thrown in his direction hit him square in the chest. 

“That’s what you get for talking shit,” Pierre shrugged. “But yes I quite like working in the vegetable garden Lando,” he said, giving him his basket in a much gentler fashion. 

Huh he never knew that about Pierre, he always assumed he worked with the roses like Charles. 

Pierre was still standing before him, but Lando couldn’t tell what he wanted. Charles had already wandered past the picket fence that separated the flower field from the vegetable plots, but here was Pierre, still thumbing at a loose piece on his basket. Lando tried to catch his eye, but he seemed determined to stay fixing the wicker while working his bottom lip between his teeth. It was almost like he was unsure of something. Wait was Pierre _insecure_ about his talent? Was that why he never told him that he didn’t strictly work with flowers? 

Lando couldn’t believe Pierre thought that any of them would care about something so stupid. He knocked his basket into Pierre’s to bring his focus back to him. 

“That’s really cool Pierre! No wonder why the dining hall’s ratatouille is so good. It’s not because of Grosjean, it’s because of your vegetables!” 

Pierre scoffed and pushed his shoulder, “I don’t think Romain would take kindly to you saying that.” Before Lando could reply he felt Pierre’s warm hand on his cheek. “Thank you though, for saying it,” he added, patting his cheek. 

“Hey! Who’s the slowpoke now!” Charles yelled from his position just inside the garden.

“I think he’s bored without us,” Lando chuckled. 

“More like he’s lazy and didn’t want to start working without us,” Pierre muttered back. 

Lando burst out laughing, “you’re probably right.” 

“Come, let’s not leave _le petit prince_ alone,” Pierre told Lando in a voice loud enough that Charles could hear. 

“Hey! I’m not the one who was dragging their feet,” Charles said with his hands on his hips. 

Pierre finally started walking to the gardens. “If you needed me to give you a refresher course on how to pull radishes from the ground you could have just asked _calamar_.”

“No but apparently you and Lando need a reminder that he’s supposed to be working for his punishment and not standing around chatting.” 

Lando rolled his eyes and sprinted past Charles, “we’ll see who’s not working! I bet I can harvest more carrots than you!” 

“You’re on foolish little tinkerer,” Charles said, racing to catch up with him, “there are two rules in life; never start a snowball fight with winter fairies and never challenge a garden fairy when their pride is on the line!” 

\---------------------------

In the end it was apparently foolish to mount _any_ challenge in the vegetable garden, because the fairy in charge yelled at them as soon as she realized they were in fact racing to pull radishes out of the ground. 

Thankfully, Pierre vouched that the three of them would be on their best behavior from that moment on, and they were able to unearth the remaining radishes in a peaceful fashion. 

Even though he didn’t fully understand the joy of growing vegetables, he prefered eating them to be honest, he couldn’t deny that the dirt under his fingertips did feel pretty satisfying. It was like when a creation finally came together from sketch to formation. Gardening gave him the same sense of completion and pride, well almost. And seeing the proud expression on Pierre’s face definitely made the sore knees he was going to have tomorrow worth it. 

Charles though, in typical Charles fashion, had decided that Lando couldn’t be released from his punishment until he helped with the flowers as well. 

Which he didn’t necessarily mind on paper, but in reality he had no idea what Charles wanted from him, he’s not a garden-talent and therefore he can’t magically grow anything. And he made sure to voice his complaints.

“Charles don’t you think this is a bit pointless.” 

Charles turned from the mound of dirt he was forming to look at him. 

“Oh, so you can help Pierre with his duties, but not me with mine, I see how it is,” he harrumphed. 

_Such a drama queen._

“It’s not about that and you know it,” he said rolling his eyes, “I just don’t see how I’m going to be useful here.” 

“Well maybe if you would just listen to me and stop complaining, then I could tell you how.” 

Pierre chuckled from beside them. “Play nice Charles you’re supposed to be teaching Lando, not arguing with him.” 

Charles narrowed his eyes, “ _traitre_.” 

Pierre simply shrugged as if to say ‘what can you do’. 

Charles turned his attention back to him. “Lando you are not a garden-talent.” 

“Gee I’m really glad you noticed that Charles.” 

Charles rolled his eyes. “I’m going to ignore the sass because this is important. You are not a garden-talent, however,” he said holding up his hand before he could interrupt again, “you can still grow flowers.” 

“Well yes, theoretically I can, I’ve never had much of a green thumb though,” Lando said. 

“That is exactly why I am here, _mon ami_ ,” Charles said with a dramatic flourish towards his pile of dirt. 

“...You’re here because you provide...the dirt,” Lando said, arching one eyebrow. 

“No you _imbécile_ ,” Charles said, “I am here to help you grow your own flower.” 

Lando wasn’t expecting that. 

“Oh, okay, how?” 

“Okay so I have already planted the seed,” he said gesturing to the mound of dirt in front of Lando, “so you need to water it,” he said handing him a pale green watering can. 

Well that’s easy enough. 

He rotated the can in a circular motion, to wet the pile completely without soaking it, before stopping to look at Charles. 

“ _Oui_ _oui_ that’s good, see you are not hopeless, you didn’t even drown it.” Charles said taking the can back from him. “Now you need to talk to it.” 

“I’m sorry,” Lando said incredulously. 

Pierre burst out laughing at his expression. 

“He means you need to talk to the seedling Lando.” 

Clearly the garden-talents were more cracked than the nuts in the Autumn Forest. 

“I understand that might sound normal to you two but for an ordinary fairy like me, please explain what the fuck you’re talking about.”

Charles gave him an exasperated look. “Pierre and I can feel what the plants need, and our magic helps them grow up quickly. Since you cannot do that it will help if you verbally encourage the plant.” 

“...And you’re serious.” 

“Of course,” Charles said, gesturing up and down in front of his body, “garden fairy remember.” 

Lando looked at Pierre to gauge just how much Charles was bullshitting him. He was certainly the more honest of the two friends. 

“I promise, talking to the plants really does encourage their growth and make them all the more beautiful,” Pierre said. 

Pierre wouldn’t lie to him, well there was the drunken thimble incident, but that was life or death and he respected that. Right now his blue eyes held nothing but pure innocence, so he was inclined to believe him. But still, what could he say to a plant?

“Um, hello baby plant. Do you want to grow up faster please?” He turned to see a very unamused Charles. 

“Is that the best you can do?” 

“Well what to do you want me to say! It’s a plant Charles,” Lando said, exasperation creeping into his voice. 

“I don’t know, but you must be able to do better than that. What would you say to a lover?” Charles said equally annoyed. 

“A lover!? I don’t know what you garden fairies get up to, but I’m not trying to fuck a plant Charles!” 

Pierre cleared his throat. 

“Perhaps I should explain,” he said looking pointedly at his two friends, “before the two of you start yelling about even more inappropriate things.” 

Silently Lando thought that Charles was the one who started the discussion, but he kept his mouth shut.

“It is not about how you view the plant, that is certainly not what Charles meant by lover, although I admit he could have phrased that better,” he said looking at the fairy in question. “It is about the feeling behind your words. Because you are not a garden-talent, you need to be even more sincere when you talk to the seedling.” 

“But Pierre,” Lando whined, “I still don’t understand how this will make the plant grow.” 

“Well it won’t completely, we’ll still be adding a little of our own magic, but the plant will sense your true heart.” 

Well that made so much more sense. They could have just said that from the beginning. 

“So basically the nicer I am to the plant, the more it will want to bloom.” 

Charles finally looked relaxed, “Yes Lando that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for the last 10 minutes.”

He wasn’t going to rise to that bait, he would be setting a bad example for his baby. 

“Um, hello sweetheart. I know it’s probably really comfortable down in that dirt right, and you’re probably really scared to come out here in the light. I promise though, there are lots of flower friends and fairy friends up here. The world is really beautiful on this side, and even though it’s easier to stay in the ground, I promise you’ll gain so much more once you see the sun.”

He continued staring at the dirt pile, but nothing, not even the slightest movement disturbed the earth. _Well that was a fucking bust_. He turned to look at his friends, and was surprised to see two shocked faces looking back at him. 

“What? I’m sorry it didn’t work. I tried my best,” Lando said. 

“Are you kidding me!” Charles screeched. “That was amazing! Since when are you a poet?” 

Pierre’s face held a similar sense of pride. 

“That was beautiful Lando, no little sprout would be able to resist blooming from such a beautiful speech.” 

Lando was confused. 

“But it didn’t bloom,” he said gesturing to the ground. 

“Well of course not dummy,” Charles said, “ours haven’t bloomed yet either, we haven’t used any magic on them.” 

With that the two fairies walked to their respective mounds and muttered a few words, waving their hands all the while. Suddenly, two beautiful flowers burst from the ground to tower above their gardeners. 

“A red ranunculus,” Pierre said while looking at Charles’ flower, “how fitting.” 

“And the same of your bluebell,” Charles said before turning to him, “are you ready for yours Lando?” 

Nodding he stepped forward slightly to closely watch the twisting of Charles' hands. 

A white flower appeared before him, swaying between the bright blooms his friends had produced. 

He shook at the filing cabinets in his mind desperately trying to recall any flower names. 

“Um is it a daisy?” he ventured, checking Pierre’s face hoping it wasn’t the dumbest guess in the world. He figured he did okay when Pierre smiled at him. 

“Close, it’s a chamomile I believe.” 

“Chamomile? Like the tea?” Lando said disbelievingly. 

“Mhmm they use the flowers to make the tea.” 

_Huh_ , you learn something new every day. 

“I think this means you passed your lesson,” Charles said, slinging his arms over both of their shoulders. 

“Wait, why? Lando asked, trying to unpress his cheek from Charles’. 

“Because,” he said, relinquishing his death grip, “you successfully grew a flower with an appropriate meaning.” 

“An appropriate meaning?” 

“ _Oui,_ the seeds are special, they grow flowers that represent the specific gardener, it’s why you have to be so sincere with your intentions.” 

Well at least that explained the weirdness from earlier, but wait. 

“What does it mean then, my flower?” 

“Well usually chamomiles are associated with patience or strength through adversity,” Pierre said. 

Clearly the universe, or I guess the soil at least, understood his plight. 

“So because the magic seeds said that I’m going through it I’m done for the day?” 

“Yes,” Charles said, throwing his arms in the air. “Honestly, I thought you would grow a flower that symbolized lust or something and I could make fun of you, but no you grew a great flower. Your intentions were pure and your speech was beautiful so you pass. 20 out of 20. Congratulations,” he huffed. 

He took a minute to process what Charles just said, and it all lined up except…

“Wait! A flower that symbolizes what! We need to have a serious talk about your freaky flower fetish. Pierre you need to come get your best friend, you’re responsible for this,” he said, but the fairy in question was quite literally on the floor laughing. 

“Hey not my kink! I said it might manifest from _your_ impure thoughts!” Charles yelled back, but there was a blush the same shade as his bandana starting to overtake his face. 

Pierre wiped a tear from his eye as he rose into a seated position on the ground. “I think that while today may have been the most fun I’ve had at work in a long time, the two of you should never be around plants together ever again,” he chuckled. 

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Lando said while nudging Charles in the side. 

“You and me both _mon ami,”_ he said, returning the shove. “Now shoo, you’re all done, punishment fulfilled,” he said. 

Pierre came over for a handshake hug combo. “I’ll bring some chamomile tea the next time I come over, it’s good for you,” he said. 

“Thanks guys,” he said smiling. Pulling them into one big hug before taking off into the air as quickly as possible. 

He loved his friends, but he absolutely did not want to be involved in any more of the weirdness that seemed to surround garden-talents. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ranunculus - Charm/Attractiveness   
> Bluebell - Humility/Constancy 
> 
> I know that technically the fairies should all speak the same language/not have accents, but in Disney fairy lore fairies come to be when a baby laughs so I'm making the fairies able to speak the language that their human baby would speak. If that makes sense? I just wanted Charles and Pierre to speak french lol. Thank you for reading :)


	4. Labor #3: Drowning in Loneliness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lando's third trial leaves him both wet and wanting, but not in the way you think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long :( I had some issues figuring out how I wanted this chapter to go, and I finally decided it was just better to post it.

This morning’s letter came with not only the standard piece of parchment bearing the royal seal, but also with a hefty pot of sunscreen. A gift he was growing ever more thankful for as the sun rose high in the sky above his place beside Havendish Stream. He shed his tunic close to 30 minutes ago as it became increasingly clear that making ripples in a stream was not as “simple and easy” as Max had claimed. In fact, it was mostly a whole lotta sweating with a whole little result if you weren't, you know, a water fairy. 

“Lando! Are you taking a break already?” 

_Speak of the devil._

“Mate, it’s barely been two hours,” Max said from his position mid stream. 

“Barely! You mean it’s _already_ been two hours. I’m not used to this Max.” 

“Well you’re a water fairy today mate, so get back over here.” 

Groaning he rolled his pant legs back up, and started to crawl from the blissfully shaded spot he had found under a nearby leaf.

Max was in an equal state of undress, but he looked comfortable standing in the water, even with the almost oppressive sunlight bearing down on his reddening shoulders. 

“Actually,” he said suddenly, “now would probably be a good time for a break, we need to hydrate.” 

“Hydrate, mate you’re a water fairy,” he said as Max flew back to the shoreline. 

“Which is why it’s even more important to hydrate,” Max said sitting next to him. 

He picked up the canteen he had set aside earlier in the day and took a long swig before passing the container to Lando. 

“Thanks,” he said before doing a waterfall from the bottle. _Ha waterfall_. He took one last gulp and handed the canteen back to Max. 

“Welp, time to get back to it I guess,” he said as he stood up, but Max stayed sitting on the ground. 

“Nah mate it actually is a good time for a break, we can get lunch now,” he said, gesturing for Lando to return to the spot he had just vacated. 

See _this_ is why Max is his best friend. The others hadn’t even thought about feeding him on the job. 

“Cool,” he said, plopping back down, “where are we getting lunch from?” 

Max glanced at him before smiling cryptically at the blue sky above. “Oh it should be here shortly.” 

Well that was weird, but not completely random, a fellow water-talent would probably drop off a packed lunch for them from the cafeteria. 

Suddenly, the atmosphere surged with a bright light, and like a bolt out of the blue sky a winged figure appeared above the two of them. 

“Well if it isn’t my favorite fairy...and Maxy,” said an all too pleased voice. 

Max’s face broke out into a smile big enough to rival that of the man landing next to them. 

“Hi Daniel, did you bring lunch?”

“Of course I did, who do you think I am?” he held up a hand, “other than an incredibly handsome personal delivery man of course,” he winked. 

Lando noticed that the all too familiar light fairy was in fact carrying both a picnic basket and a blanket in his arms. 

_Oh my god_ , they were going to make him third wheel. He couldn’t imagine a worse punishment. No wonder Max was so happy all day even when he’d been burning alive. 

“Max! If you wanted to go on a date with Daniel you could’ve told me. In fact how about we just call it a day,” he said getting up to make his escape. 

“No you don’t mister! Your work isn’t done for the day! You wanted a break so you get a break.” 

“Yeah Lando, I bring Max lunch everyday, it’s no big if you join us today,” Daniel said with a disarmingly cheerful smile. It still sounded suspiciously like he was agreeing to be a third wheel, but he didn’t have much of a choice, he _was_ hungry. 

“Fine but no funny business you two.” 

“Scouts honor,” Dan said, making an imaginary cross over his heart. He walked farther from the stream’s edge to the grassy bank, and set down the basket he brought. “What are you two waiting for? Get over here.” He spread the dark blue blanket out in the air, and as it fluttered to the floor Lando noticed the rainbow motif on the underside. Catching his gaze Daniel sent him a wink, “that’s my favorite part, but Max says it’s too distracting to eat with that side up.” 

“That’s because it is,” Max said, as he sat criss cross applesauce on the blanket. “Just because you can make rainbows doesn’t mean everything you own needs to feature them.”

“You mean _we_ make rainbows Maxy, isn’t it so cute, the combination of light and water, they’re like our babies,” he said dramatically laying his head in Max’s lap like the gigantic baby _he_ was.

Lando forgot just how sickening the two of them could be. 

“Hey, I thought I said no PDA or I walk,” Lando said as he settled next to the two fairies on the blanket. 

“Please,” Max scoffed, “this is not even close to PDA.” 

“Yeah one time I fucked Max right he-- ouch!” Daniel cried as Max bopped him on the forehead with his hand. “You wound be babe.” 

“Well I wouldn’t have to if you would learn to keep your mouth shut,” he huffed. 

But Lando noticed that he did brush his thumb soothingly over the spot. 

So sickening...he wanted that. He needed to change the subject before he started falling down the rabbit hole of loneliness he normally reserved for Friday nights after 11. 

“So, I didn’t know you guys did this every day, y’know lunch,” he said as he started to unwrap one of the sandwiches that Daniel had brought. 

Amazing, yeah that was totally a change of subject, thanks brain. 

“Well not _every_ day,” Daniel said, handing a sandwich with an M on the wrapper to Max before removing his own from the basket. “Sometimes our schedules don’t line up, but yeah this is standard when they do.” 

“And you don’t get like, bored,” he said vaguely waving his hand in the air. 

Max’s hands froze where they had been tracing his boyfriend’s thigh tattoos. “Bored?” he said, ocean blue eyes turning to ice. 

_Fuck_ time to back track. 

“I just mean that you two spend a lot of time together already right, and...and you also hang out during lunch, doesn’t that get a little I don’t know…” 

“Repetitive,” Daniel helpfully supplied. 

“Yes!” Lando was absolutely going to take that lifeline like the drowning man he was. “I know you guys love each other, I just meant if you see each other all the time don’t you run out of things to say sometimes?” 

The frigidity of Max’s eyes lessened...a tad bit. 

“Well yeah sometimes you don’t have any exciting stories to tell, but it feels nice just spending time together, even without all the extra.” 

“Awww babe I knew you loved me,” Daniel perked up, planting a large smooch on Max’s cheek. “Trust me little Lando, you’ll get it one day, some people just feel so good to be with that you forget what life was like without them.”

_Wow_ , he definitely set himself up for that cloyingly sweet answer. What do you even say to that?

“You guys are gross,” he settled on. 

Daniel just laughed at him and reached over to ruffle his curls. “Maybe Lando, maybe.” 

Still even if Max and Daniel were a little... much, he couldn’t help but feel happy for his friend. 

Max could be a wild card. His moods normally varied from raging storms to gentle seas and back to steely ice, but around Daniel he was steadier. He floated on whatever wave the light fairy unknowingly generated, and he seemed happier because of it. 

The lighthearted feeling continued through the rest of lunch, and Lando was actually glad that Daniel showed up. It had been a while since he hung out with him, and he had almost forgotten how much fun he had when Dan was around. 

The light fairy looked into the sky, “it looks like our time is up babe, back to work,” he said before pressing a kiss to Max’s temple. Max stretched out toward Daniel like a cat chasing its own personal sunshine. “Mmm okay, I’ll see you later then.” 

The three fairies stood up so Daniel could fold his blanket and collect the picnic basket. “Don’t be a stranger okay Lando,” he said, reaching out for a fist bump that he returned. 

“Nah definitely not,” he said, quickly standing on his tiptoes to get Daniel back for his curl ruffling earlier. 

“Ah you fucking wanker,” Dan said, but he maintained his blinding smile. The fairy made to fly away before Max interrupted his actions.

“Wait Daniel,” he called, just as the fairy lifted off, “do you think you could…” but Daniel cut him off with a laugh. 

“Don’t worry about it Maxy, I was already on it. You think I didn’t see that sunburn.” 

Dan shifted the basket and blanket to his left arm while seemingly reaching for nothing with his right. Lando realized what he was doing after the temperature in the glen cooled. Daniel angled the sunbeam that had been previously causing him so much discomfort away from the stream. 

Okay that settles it, Daniel has his full permission to marry Max. 

“Lovely,” Max said smiling up at his boyfriend. 

“Love _you_ ,” Daniel winked. “Gentlemen,” he said with an over exaggerated bow, “I’ll be seeing you,” he announced before disappearing in a flash of light. Even though Lando loved Max’s company, he couldn’t deny that the atmosphere certainly felt a little more dreary without Daniel. 

“I think I get it now,” he said, and Max turned to look at him. 

“Get what?”

“Why you love spending time with him,” he said simply, before walking back into the stream. 

He always thought of water as unpredictable and hard to work with, but now he realized that responsive was a better word for the element. The energy you put into it, is the energy you get back. He focused on clearing his mind, letting the playful yet gentle atmosphere of the afternoon wash over him as he dipped his hands into the water. The surface around him slowly started to expand outwards into the ripple he had been trying to form all day. 

“Max!” he yelled in triumph. “Max I finally did it!” 

His friend was looking at him with his arms crossed, but he had a proud smile on his face. 

“Perfect mate, I told you it wasn’t that hard.” 

Lando couldn’t stop beaming as he looked at his handiwork, but of course there was always a water fairy waiting to rain on his day. 

“Now do five more and I’ll consider your punishment complete.” 

“Max!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally Max was supposed to be a fast flying fairy, but in the end I couldn't resist making him the Chief Hydration Officer :)


	5. Labor #4: Sketchy Flights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lando helps his fast-flying friend George with his shady business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg it's finally here! The final chapter! It took a little more time, partly because this is the longest chapter, and partly because I have no time-management skills. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy :)

Even though the king didn’t tell Lando exactly how many of his friends he would be helping, he was still surprised when this morning’s letter told him he’d be assisting George. Don’t get him wrong he’d be happy to help, it’s just that he didn’t exactly know what George did on a daily basis. Fast-flying-talents are insanely useful all around Pixie Hollow, but that also means that they do lots of different jobs. 

Luckily, for once his friend would be coming to him instead of it being the other way around, so he was able to spend his morning relaxing. He was just finishing his bowl of porridge when there was a knock at the door. 

“Coming,” he said, quickly tossing his unwashed bowl in the sink, that was a problem for future Lando. He shuffled across the floor to pull open his front door, and was met with George’s smirking face. 

“I knew you’d come fast,” he said with a wink. 

“Why are you like this!” Lando squawked, but he still moved aside to let George in. 

George just laughed, “I couldn’t help it, you left the door wide open...literally,” he said as he crouched under the low doorway to step into Lando’s home. 

“Alex was right…” he muttered as he shut the door. 

“What was that?” George said over his shoulder. 

“Nothing,” he called, eyeing George still standing by his kitchen table, “you can sit.”

George had clearly been waiting for an invitation, as he plopped down in the only chair that wasn’t filled with books or forgotten schematics. Lando had to move a thick engineering book out of the way to sit across from his friend. 

George raised an eyebrow, “You’re not going to offer me a drink? Where are your hosting skills mate?” 

He scoffed in disbelief, “Now you want to be a proper guest! You were acting like a hooker two seconds ago!” 

“Well I’m a hooker you invited inside, so I still deserve your respect thank you very much,” he said turning his nose up in the air. 

“You’re such a prick,” Lando said, but he still got up to grab a mug from his cabinets. “You better be grateful,” he mumbled under his breath as he filled the pale orange mug with water and placed it in front of George. 

“Aw thank you mate, you’ve saved me from having a parched throat.” 

“I thought that was Max’s job,” he said as he sat back in his seat. 

“Well Max isn’t helping me today, you are.” 

“Yeah, I’m _helping_ you George, not doing your personal bidding.”

“It was a glass of water mate, not a robot army, I’m not asking you to help me take over Pixie Hollow,” George said, rolling his eyes, and taking a sip of said water. 

“So what am I doing then?” he said, resting his arms on the table. “I don’t actually know what you do other than fly fast.” 

“Well, it’s different every day, mostly it just comes down to helping people though.” 

“So I’ll be helping you help people,” Lando said. 

“That’s basically it,” George said, precariously leaning back in the chair to cross his long legs. “We’re gonna stay away from the more wind based jobs though for today, I don’t think your tiny wings will be much help.” 

“Hey! It’s not about the size of the wings!” 

“When you’re a fast-flying fairy it is,” he winked. _Obnoxious prick_.

“I’m just messing with you mate, although you won’t be making any windstorms I was serious about that.” The chair legs hit the floor as George leant back forward to drain the rest of his mug.

“Honestly, that’s fine by me. I've had enough elemental training.” His favorite pants were still hanging off his balcony drying. 

“That’s great then,” George said, rising from his seat. He carefully placed the ceramic mug alongside Lando’s long forgotten porridge bowl, and walked toward the front door. “Well come on, get your shoes on, we have packages to deliver.” 

“Packages?” he said scurrying over to his shoe rack. 

“Yup, packages,” George repeated, pulling open the door. “Today you’re officially a part of the fast-flying fairy delivery service, try to keep up,” he said before speeding off into the sky. 

“George wait!” Lando said, stumbling off his front step. “You really have no manners!” he yelled after his friend as he took off after him to try to catch up. 

He flew, at his own perfectly normal pace thank you very much, to land only a few seconds after his friend. 

“That was a good morning workout yeah,” George said, clapping him on the shoulder. 

“You’re a jerk,” is all he could muster up the energy to come back with. 

George just laughed at him and continued walking. 

“Um where exactly are we by the way?” he questioned. 

“You’ve never been here before?” George asked. 

Lando looked around the field they were currently traveling through. There were vibrant flowers of all kinds and colors in bloom above his head, a system of wooden troughs had been constructed to scale the large holly tree they were approaching, and he could just barely hear what must be a babbling brook in the distance. 

“Nah mate, I think I would have remembered a place like this.” 

“Oh well, you’ll love it here. This is where the dyeing fairies color clothes.”

Everything fell into place, but then he realized. “Wait, this is where Carlos works!” 

“Yeah dummy, that’s why I’d thought you’d been here before. 

“No I’ve never seen him at work, he’s only ever delivered my clothes orders to me.” 

“Oh,” George smirked, “no need for the fast-flying delivery service then.” 

“Shut up,” he mumbled, but he couldn’t help feeling a little more excited. 

He didn’t get to see Carlos as much these days. Lately, it seemed like the only time they got to hang out was when Carlos stopped by to deliver the paints or tunics that he ordered. There was no shame in admitting that he looked forward to those deliveries. 

“Come on mate,” George said, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Looks like we need to head up,” he gestured to the tree. 

The two flew up along the trunk, until George suddenly swooped down to land on one of the many overhangs. He confidently walked past the many wooden tubs filled with various shades of dye, weaving through the maze of clotheslines, leaving Lando to scurry behind him, dodging clothing items and dye-talents alike.

“Wait a minute George, what are we here for anyway? I thought dye-talents did most of their deliveries themselves.” 

“You would know all about that,” George said knowingly, “but yeah you’re right, we’re here for a more important pick-up.” He turned his head so Lando could see him arch an eyebrow. “You didn’t think I was really just a standard delivery boy for the dye fairies did you?” 

“Well I don’t know,” he exclaimed. “I don’t know what you do, and you said you help people by delivering things sometimes.” 

“Well that’s true,” George mused as they crossed through a doorway to enter a hollowed out portion of the tree. “But most talents have their own delivery divisions, I tend to take on more...specific requests.” 

He was starting to rethink everything he knew about George. Clearly that nice boy image was just a façade, because the more he heard the more it seemed like Geroge was involved in some shady shit. 

“Are you running drugs George,” he aggressively whispered, “do you have _me_ running drugs,” he gasped. “Oh my lord the king is going to freak. I’m already on punishment.”

George smacked him on the head. “I’m not running drugs you idiot, we’re here on a mission _for_ the king.” 

The surprises just kept coming. 

“Wait! A mission for the king. Like we’re spies or something.” 

A group of giggling dye-talents paused to give them a suspicious side glance as they walked by. 

“No we aren’t spies,” George said loud enough for the girls to hear. “Honestly, if you weren’t a tinker fairy I’d be concerned, because your imagination could seriously get you into trouble one day.” 

“Uh newsflash mate, it already did,” he said, gesturing between them. “This is a punishment, remember.” 

George at least looked properly bested for once. “Good point. I hope you’re learning your lesson then.” 

If the lesson was that he needed to ask his friends more questions, then yeah he learned it.

“Oh look there we go, our supplier is here,” George laughed, “hey Carlos!” 

Sure enough the fairy in question was standing by a faded blue couch, and two large but beautifully decorated packages were stacked on the table next to him. 

“Hola George and... Lando!” 

“Hi Carlos,” George said going in for a bro hug, “thanks for waiting, Lando is helping me with the exchange.” 

“What a surprise” Carlos said before hugging Lando as well. “I can’t believe you’ve never been here before cabrón. To create some dye at least, if not to visit me.” 

“Wait! You can do that,” he said gobsmacked. 

“When you’re good friends with a dye fairy you can,” he winked. 

“I’d love to then! And it’s not my fault we haven’t caught up. You need to message me when you’re not busy Mr. I-got-promoted-so-I-don’t-have-time-to-get-lunch-with-my-friends-anymore,” he said with his hands on his hips. 

“I know, I know I’m sorry, I promise I’ll make it up to you,” he said putting a blue and purple stained hand on his shoulder. 

“You better.” 

“I’m sorry to break up this touching reunion, but we actually are on a time limit.” 

“Right,” Carlos said, patting the painted packages, “everything is good to go.” 

“Thanks,” George said, lifting the top package. “You been going to the gym lately?” 

Lando looked at Carlos and back at George. “Who me? Yeah. Why?” 

“Cuz you’re gonna need to carry this mate,” George said, picking up the second package and placing it in his arms. The box wasn’t too heavy, but it certainly wasn’t light enough for George to carry both by himself. 

“Be careful with the wrapping yeah, the design took the art-talents a while.” 

“Of course,” George said with complete seriousness, “it would be a bad look bringing ripped packages to a gift exchange.” 

_A gift exchange?_

“Exactly right. I have to get back to work, but I’ll see you guys soon,” Carlos said. Lando shot him a dirty look. “I promise cabrón.” 

“Okay fine,” he sighed. “I’ll be awaiting your letter.” 

“Come on Lando, thanks again Carlos,” George said as he started walking away. 

Lando quickly followed after him to the opening he was approaching. 

“So what do we do now?” 

“Now we fly to the border as quick as we can,” George said, and he jumped out the window, 

\----------------

Lando hadn’t been to the border often, but George seemed at home waiting at the foot of the bridge that spanned the distance between the Autumn Forest and the Winter Woods. They had both set their packages on the ground, waiting for... well whoever George said was coming. 

“So who are we waiting for again, and what’s in the packages George,” he said when the silence became too much. 

“The packages, as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, contain gifts for the Winter Kingdom. We’re waiting for our winter equivalent to bring the gifts for King Lewis.” 

“Wait seriously!” Although that certainly explained the beautiful blue and white scenes that covered the packages. “What’s in the parcel then?” 

“Clothing, I’m not sure of the specifics, but the art-talents worked together to hand craft some beautiful pieces for the royal family.” 

“Wow, I didn’t know the kingdoms exchanged gifts.” 

“It doesn’t happen often, but the annual ball is coming soon, so the kings probably thought this would be a good time to show their appreciation for each other,” George explained. “Oh look, here comes the convoy now,” he smiled. 

Cresting over the snowy hill was a white rabbit, disturbing the fresh powder as it bounded toward the border. It wasn’t until the rabbit got closer that Lando realized it was pulling a sled, or more accurately it was harnessed to a sled, and a fairy was steering the animal. 

The rabbit, which Lando could now see was still a baby, seemed to have no interest in slowing down. In fact, he thought it was going to run right over the bridge until he heard a voice call out. 

“Whoa Hazelnut!” 

The bunny skidded to a halt, dislodging plenty of snow, but thankfully not its rider as it stopped right before the bridge. 

A tall fairy in a pale blue tunic, pulled off the thick goggles he was wearing, as he approached them with a big smile on his face. “Hey Georgie!” 

George returned the look and shouted “Hey Nicky!” He turned to him, “Come on, I’ve got someone to introduce you to.” He had no choice but to follow along, and flutter up the branch bridge. 

They came to a stop just at the edge of the barrier, the winter flurries disappearing into the warm sun. 

“Heya George,” said the fairy he could only assume was Nicky, as the two shook hands across the environmental barrier. “Who’s your friend.” 

“Nicky this is Lando, he’s a tinker fairy.” 

“That’s wicked,” he said reaching a hand into the warm sun again, “I’m Nicholas, but my friends call me Nicky.” 

“Nice to meet you Nicky, cool rabbit,” he said as he shook his gloved hand. 

“Aw thanks man, that’s my little Hazelnut there, she’s still in training but she’ll be a great sled rabbit one day.” 

See, rabbits, much easier to deal with then chipmunks. He should have done his punishment with this guy. 

“Yeah she’ll be great,” George scoffed, “as soon as her handler stops spoiling her with sweet treats all the time.” 

“Hey! She gets the treats she deserves, all right.” 

“That’s because you don’t have the heart to be strict with her.” 

Nicky laughed. “Well I certainly can’t disagree with you there, warmest heart of the winter fairies I have.” 

“Okay I wouldn’t go that far,” George said, shoving Nicky’s shoulder. 

It was a little awkward watching the obviously close friends banter as he just stood there, but Lando couldn’t deny that it felt good to know that George did get to have fun doing his job. Hearing that he was expected to be what was basically a courier for the king had made him a little nervous, that was a lot of pressure on just one fairy. Besides no one was as bad as Max and Daniel, no one. 

Nicky’s voice interrupted his musing. “I see you two brought the gifts, I’m glad there’s only two, that will make transport way easier.” 

“Yeah hold on one sec, let us grab those,” George said. 

Lando flew back to grab the package. “Um Nicky do you want us to...”

“No it’s ok, just set them down, I’ll put them on the sled. I know a little winter chill won’t hurt you guys, but seeing as you didn’t bring jackets, I’d rather not take the risk. I don’t think King Lewis or Lord Kimi would be very happy with me if I hurt two warm-weather fairies.” He lugged both packages into his arms and arranged them in the baggage compartment of the sled. 

“George are we done here?” he asked, “mission accomplished?” 

“Almost, we still need the gifts from Nicky, and we have one more stop.” 

“Speaking of gifts,” Nicky interrupted, returning from having tucked away the parcels for safe traveling. “You two are lucky that I have been extremely considerate of your trip back, and present you with just these.” He pulled two velvet pouches from his pocket, one a deep purple and one a turquoise blue. “The gifts for your royalty,” he said, “the purple is for King Lewis, and the blue is for Sebastian Vettel.” 

“But Sebastian isn’t royalty,” he cut in. 

“Tell that to Lord Kimi,” Nicky winked. 

“I’m certain that both of them will love the gifts, thank you Nicky,” George said. 

“Don’t thank me, I’m just the messenger,” he insisted. 

“Well so are we,” George shrugged, “maybe I was thanking you for being a good friend.” 

“In that case, you’re welcome,” Nicky smiled. “Write me yeah, it’s been a while since you’ve been on this side of the woods, we could crack open a few cold ones, literally.” 

“On my next day off,” George promised, giving Nicky a fist bump. 

“You should come too Lando, you seem like a cool dude.”

“Uh yeah...sure, thanks mate,” he stuttered

“No problem. I should get these back to the palace,” he gestured over his shoulder to the waiting sled. “I’ll catch you guys on the flip side. Have a safe trip back.” 

“Same to you Nicky,” George called before looking at him. “Are you ready to go, only one stop left, until you’re done.” 

“Mission accomplished?” 

“Mission accomplished,” he laughed. 

“What are we waiting for then, let’s go,” he laughed as they took off, both waving as Nicky’s figure disappeared behind the treeline. 

\--------------------- 

The royal palace was just as intimidating as he remembered. 

Although it was nice not having to be escorted by the guards this time, apparently being with George afforded him that luxury. His friend raised his hand to knock on the ornate silver doors, but they swung open before he could. The same guards who had steered him to this room earlier in the week, bowed out of the room behind the two of them, leaving them alone with the king and his aide. 

Today King Lewis was looking far more noble, a bejeweled silver crown resting on his head. “Sorry if I scared you boys, but I saw you coming,” he said, gesturing to the floating videos circling the ceiling. 

“That’s more than fine King Lewis, you saved me from knocking,” George flashed his most winning smile. _Holy shit Alex was right, he really is in love with the king_. 

“Well anything to relieve your burden George,” the king smirked, “and Lando it’s good to see you again as well, I take it your punishment has been going well.” 

That got his attention. “Um yes your highness, I’ve learned a lot.” 

“I’m glad to hear that, it may seem easy, but sometimes working with your friends can be the most difficult task in the world,” the king said, the corners of his mouth dropping almost indiscernibly. 

Sebastian suddenly cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “I believe that young George should have a gift for you, your highness.” 

“Thank you Sebastian, yes please, show me what you’ve brought boys.” 

“Actually, there’s a gift for you as well Sebastian,” George said, flying to the man, who seemed taken aback by the turquoise pouch now resting in his palms.

George flew to the foot of the king’s throne, before bowing deeply, “May I approach your highness?” 

“Of course,” the king declared. 

George fluttered closer, presenting the violet pouch with two hands for the king to take. A sudden, soft gasp drew Lando’s attention to the left. Sebastian was holding a silver chain between his fingers, and a pendant that seemed to be fashioned out of ice gently swung below. Lando wasn’t sure if the key shape meant anything to the aide, but judging by his reaction the gift was clearly well received. 

“It’s beautiful Seb,” the king remarked. George was behind his throne, carefully fastening the king’s own gift, thickly woven and interlocking chains of ice, around his neck. Deftly running his fingers under the collar of his lord’s tunic, making sure the necklace rested beautifully. Man, he was definitely going to tease him about this at game night tomorrow. 

“Kimi, certainly knows your tastes,” the king smirked. 

It was truly a testament to how out of it Sebastian was, that he didn’t even rise to the bait, instead he carefully placed the necklace back in its pouch. “I’ll be sure to thank him,” he murmured. 

“Umhmm I’m sure, you can do it on your day off tomorrow.” 

That got Sebastian’s attention. “What? I don’t have a day off tomorrow.” 

“Sure you do,” the king said vaguely waving his hand, “I just gave you one, send Kimi my regards.” 

The red spots on his cheeks were making Sebastian look increasingly flustered. “But...but Lewis, I don’t even know how busy he is tomorrow.” 

The king just shrugged. “I suggest you go write him a letter then Seb.” 

Sebastian looked around at him and George before clearing his throat. “I suppose I must be taking my leave then,” he stated, folding into a bow. “If you’ll excuse me,” he uttered, but he was already fleeing toward the back of the room. 

“Those two are the worst kept secret across the kingdom’s, I swear,” King Lewis laughed. That seemed a bit hypocritical from Lando’s point of view, where he could see the king constantly checking his periphery to look for George, but he figured it was best not to say anything. He’d rather finish one punishment before earning a new one, thank you very much. 

Speaking of punishments, George finally stepped out from behind the throne to appear in front of the king again. 

“Do you need me for anything else today King Lewis?” 

“No that will be all George, thank you.” 

George floated back to him with a smile on his face and clapped him on his shoulder. “I officially free you from your services, thanks for the help mate.” 

“No problem,” he said, hugging his friend and standing on his tiptoes. “You know we’re totally talking about this tomorrow,” he whispered in George’s ear. George let out a strangled sound before slugging his shoulder, hard. “Ow! Don’t be mad at me, I’m not the one who…” George slammed his hand over his mouth before leaning in, “fine we’ll talk later I swear.” 

He smiled, “thanks for showing me around George, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said loudly. “Seriously though, thanks,” he repeated quieter. That made George genuinely smile, “no problem Lando,” he said before turning to bow for the king once more. “I’ll be taking my leave as well,” he announced, pulling open the grand silver doors they had entered and darting away. 

_Would it be considered rude if he just asked the king if he could leave right now?_

“Lando the tinker fairy, you have had quite an interesting week,” the king spoke up. 

“Um, yes, very interesting your highness.” 

“And would you say you learned anything these past few days.” 

_Shit._ His mind started racing. Um what had he learned. Did he learn things? Was that a trick question? 

“Calm down Lando, I’m not looking for any specific answer, just what did you learn from your experiences?” the king questioned gently. 

Right he could answer that, he just had to think a little bit.

“Um, okay, I learned that being understanding is important, because you can’t take shortcuts when you interact with people. And that people…or animals won’t hate you for setting boundaries.” He thought of Basil, who was probably playing around in a field right now, but would still listen to Alex if he asked for her cooperation. “I learned that every task fairies do is important, no matter what it looks like.” He thought of caring Pierre feeling insecure over his incredibly important talent. “And that when you do things with sincerity, your work will reflect that.” He thought of Charles who put everything into growing the most beautiful roses. “I learned that if you write something off as bad or difficult before you even do it, then it probably will be.” He thought of the fun afternoon he had with both Daniel and Max, and how their relationship helped him understand that capriciousness wasn’t always a bad thing, variety was valuable. And he thought of his and George’s adventure today. “And today I learned that helping people comes in many different forms, and that you don’t always know everything about your friends just because you’re their friend, you should still check in with them.” He took a deep breath, and refocused on the king’s face. 

King Lewis’ smile was brighter than all of the gems he was wearing. “I think you learned some amazing life lessons Lando, more than I knew at your age that’s for certain,” he laughed. “I hope that you can take the things you learned from this experience and put them to good use in your life _and_ in your tinkering. I look forward to many new inventions from you.” 

It felt like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. Even though he had only been asked to help his friends, there was still a part of him that was concerned he was doing everything wrong, and that he would inevitably disappoint the king. 

“Thank you so much King Lewis,” he said completely earnest.

“No, thank _you_ Lando, for taking the tasks I assigned you seriously. I officially mark your punishment as complete, and allow you to go back to your regularly scheduled life,” he beamed. 

He almost couldn’t stop himself from taking off right there, he’d missed his lab so badly. 

There was a second where he and the king were just staring at each other, before King Lewis shooed him with his hands. 

“Go, go, I’m sure you know the way out by now,” he chuckled. “Besides, I need to figure out what I’m going to do without Seb tomorrow morning,” he muttered. 

Lando was almost out of the doors when he paused, and looked back at the king. “Oh, well I know a certain fast-flying fairy who would be glad to help you King Lewis. I think he would love to learn some lessons from you,” he snickered, before sliding through the doors, his laughter echoing down the hallway. 

George was going to kill him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone peep the name of Nicky's bunny lol  
> Anyways thank you so much for reading, I really hope anyone who got this far enjoyed the fic :) Please let me know if you did

**Author's Note:**

> The guard is Nico H not R if you were curious haha. Thank you for reading! Feedback is greatly appreciated because I might write some more relationship based one-shots in this universe if all goes well :)


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